Your sponsorship (information and levels below) or donation will help to offset the cost of hosting the veterans, military and first responders at Salute Series events throughout the year.

On December 2, 2016, in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, the third annual Comcast NBCUniversal I’ll Be Home for Christmas: A Salute to the Military and First Responders will usher in the holiday season for 2,000 members of the service community with a night of magical music and generosity of spirit. This very special event also marks the culmination of the Philly POPS 2016 Salute Series.

This benefit concert takes place on opening night of the 2016 "A Philly POPS Christmas" concert series. Individual tickets for this event on December 2 are not available for purchase.

The Philly POPS Salute Series encourages recognition of service and commitment through an expanding set of events and activities—each transformative moments of celebration for our community. The Salute performances recognize the service and sacrifice of those dedicated to a collective identity of American values and tradition.

Your sponsorship (levels and information below) or donation will help to offset the cost of hosting the veterans, military and first responders at Salute Series events throughout the year. Learn more about how you can support this event and all Salute Series events.

Helpful Information

This program, including intermission, is approximately two and a half hours in length. Artists and program are subject to change without notice.

Discounted parking passes are available from select garages. For more information, please call 215.893.1999.

Photography

We hope all of our guests will have a great time and make many memories at our concerts and events. Post your photos or videos on social media and include #phillypops for a chance to win a pair of tickets to any upcoming concert in the current or following season! Please refrain from flash photography in the concert hall.

Enjoy the show!

Guest Artists

Tony DeSare, vocalist & piano

Tony DeSare performs with infectious joy, wry playfulness and robust musicality. Named a Rising Star Male Vocalist in Downbeat magazine, DeSare has lived up to this distinction by winning critical and popular acclaim for his concert performances throughout North America and abroad. From jazz clubs to Carnegie Hall to Las Vegas headlining with Don Rickles and major symphony orchestras, DeSare has brought his fresh take on old school class around the globe. DeSare has three top ten Billboard jazz albums under his belt and has been featured on the CBS Early Show, NPR, A Prairie Home Companion, the Today Show and his music has been posted by social media celebrity juggernaut, George Takei.

Peter Richard Conte, Organist

Peter Richard Conte is highly regarded as a skillful performer and arranger of organ transcriptions. He has been featured several times on National Public Radio and on ABC television’s Good Morning America and World News Tonight. His monthly radio show, The Wanamaker Organ Hour, airs on the first Sunday of each month and can be accessed online via WRTI.org. He performs extensively throughout the United States and Canada under the management of Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, and was a featured artist at the American Guild of Organists’ National Convention in 2002, and at the International Organ Festival in Aosta, Italy, in September 2004. In 2013, the Philadelphia Music Alliance honored him with a bronze plaque on the Avenue of the Arts’ Walk of Fame. He has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, The Philly POPS, and with Delaware and Allentown Symphonies.

Sponsorship Levels

Veterans Commendation $15,000

(8) tickets to the December 2 pre-concert sponsor dinner and tribute concert

Post-concert reception invitation for 8 on December 2

Full-page ad in the December 4 Encore! commemorative program

Sponsor Page Listing in the Encore! commemorative program book

Name/Company listed on The Philly POPS Website

Name/Company listed on the Kimmel Center lobby digital signage two hours before, during and one hour after all Philly POPS Christmas concerts

Donor Listing in all program books through the season

Responders Citation $10,000

(6) tickets to the December 2 pre-concert sponsor dinner and tribute concert

Post-concert reception invitation for (6)on December 2

Full-page ad in the December 2 Encore! commemorative program

Sponsor Page Listing in the Encore! commemorative program book

Name/Company listed on The Philly POPS Website

Name/Company listed on the Kimmel Center lobby digital signage two hours before, during and one hour after all Christmas POPS concerts

Protectors Accolade $5,000

(4) tickets to the December 2 pre-concert sponsor dinner and tribute concert

Post-concert reception invitation for (4 )on December 2

Half-page ad in the December 2 Encore! commemorative program

Sponsor Page Listing in the Encore! commemorative program book

Name/Company listed on The Philly POPS Website

Name/Company listed on the Kimmel Center lobby digital signage two hours before, during and one hour after all Christmas POPS concerts

Sentinel Honor $2,500

(2) tickets to the December 2 pre-concert sponsor dinner and tribute concert